Streaking: A Year to Remember

On Nov. 8, 2019, I returned from a work trip and began a new playing streak. Until then, my longest streak was 100 days. Now, partly thanks to the global COVID-19 pandemic canceling any travel I normally would have had this year, my new streak has surpassed the year mark. 

Having played every day for 368 days and counting, I wish I could say my playing has advanced by leaps and bounds in that time. However, I'm not sure I can sure I can say that. There have been days where I only played a 5-10 minutes. A lot of times, my practice time comes at the very end of the day, and I just don't feel like logging a long session of banjo and fiddle playing. 

The pandemic has made for a strange year in all aspects of life, and my attempts at musicking are no different. As I mentioned earlier this year, I felt stagnant and lost my motivation to practice. Despite those mental hurdles, I'm proud to have been able to keep playing every day, no matter how brief. 

Since the end of July, I've been working through an online fiddle course, learning new tunes and bowing patterns, while making a concerted effort to record my progress. Up until a couple weeks ago, I was making great strides and catching up with my playing time goal that I had set back in January. 

Once again, though, my motivation has sagged, and my playing time at the end of October had dropped off again. I was stalled on one tune, not that I didn't feel like I was getting it, but I just wasn't feeling ready to move on to learning another new tune. Perhaps after a few years of learning only a few tunes per year, this rapid progress felt a bit overwhelming. Or maybe it's the continued malaise of this tumultuous year. 

Regardless of the reason for my recent drop-off, I've continued to play ever day. Last night, I recorded myself again, which usually signals my readiness to move on to a new tune. The photo above is me accidentally taking a photo instead pressing the record button on my phone. It's doubtful I'll catch up to my fiddle playing time goal for 2020, but like all other plans for this year, I guess I need to recalibrate and move on. 

It seems the story of 2020 is perseverance and adjusting expectations. The one constant has been this playing streak. No matter what the day brings, I always know that at some point I'll drag out my instruments and make some sound to soothe my soul. 

I'm not sure when this streak will end, but I have not doubt that it will never be broken.